A blog by a British Muslim girl

IPCC

Over two years later, finally the inquest into the death of Mark Duggan has come to an end. The jury made up of ten random Londoners decided that Mark Duggan did not have a gun on him when he was shot and killed by a police officer in August 2011. Despite this the IPCC has came to the conclusion that Duggan was killed lawfully. I find the outcome quite shocking, as have the family of Duggan and hundreds of others.

When somebody makes a mistake, which leads to a criminal offence, they have to face the consequences. A punishment is given to everybody who is found guilty of committing an criminal offence. The difference here is that this officer is not being punished for his mistake. The officer believed that Duggan had a gun-this was the officer’s mistake. He went ahead and shot him and he died as a consequence. Of course being an armed officer, he is permitted to shoot if the subject is a threat. But with no gun, where is the threat? So this police officer mistakenly thought Duggan was a threat. Any mistake anyone makes in a court of law, they are punished for. This wasn’t a court of law though, this was the police investigating the police in reality.

There are discrepancies in this case, and the question I want to ask is whether Duggan, a black man, would still be alive today if he was white? A question that can never be answered, but one we should all stop and think about. As someone from an ethnic minority, cases like this really worry me. It’s 2014 and the majority of the black community believe the outcome of the inquest was completely wrong and a big cover up. This is bad news for London. Whatever happens next, with the family promising to fight for Duggan’s innocence, the relationship between the police and the black community has been severed.

Also we musn’t forget that it wasn’t just Mark Duggan who was killed that summer. His killing whether lawful or unlawful is also responsible for the events that lead to the murder of three men in Birmingham six days dater who were protecting their community from rioters. Haroon Jahan, Shazad Ali and Abdul Musavir were violently run over and left to die by a group of men taking part in the riots. One split second judgement made by one marked policeman can yield such destruction is actually pretty terrifying.

Like this:

Tonight marks the 3rd nights of riots, in London. Looters, thugs, criminals or all of the above involved in causing havoc and chaos. What started of as a peaceful protest in Tottenham has escalated into full on rioting and criminality across London. The scary thing is no-one really knows how to stop it. Watching pictures on the news channels is truly shocking, buildings alight, shop windows smashed and people vandalising police cars.From everything I’ve seen and heard, it seems to be a load of young people having a laugh and trying to trash whatever they can and steal as much as they can. For the simple reason, that they can and will get away with it. Talk about cuts and disfranchised youths is nonsense. This is pure opportunism and criminality. Yes there are young people who are fed up and depressed about their future, but the ones who care about their future are not the ones responsible for this rioting. There are young people in England who live in ‘relative poverty’ and come from dysfunctional families. They may carry guns and knives and belong to gangs, but that does not give them an excuse or a right to commit these sorts of crimes. You can tell by the types of shops being looted, that these thugs are trying to simply get their hands on those goods which enhance their street cred and can be sold on to make a few quid. Some of these youths are so stupid that they haven’t even bothered to disguise themselves when making videos on their mobile phones. Another point is that I don’t believe this is a black issue. Many of the youths rioting and looting are white as well as black. Some of the areas affected, like Croydon and Hackney do have a large black population but the actual looters are not only black.Mark Duggan’s death, the catalyst which started the riots, is being investigated by the IPCC. Today it emerged that Duggan may not have fired at the police first, as was first stated. The Met Police have finally apologised to the family for not handling the family’s needs effectively.The first night’s riots in Tottenham seemed to come from a frustrated community with a few opportunists looting and causing trouble. The next two nights seem wholly disconnected from the Mark Duggan killing. It is a shame that his family’s sorrow has been overtaken by rioting which have nothing to do with his death. Whether the police were acting in self defence the night they shot Mark dead, remains to be seen. I for one will be waiting patiently to hear the result of the IPCC investigation.